Technical Field
Embodiments disclosed herein are related to ophthalmic surgical and/or imaging devices. More specifically, embodiments described herein relate to an artificial eye that can be used to simulate ophthalmic surgical and/imaging procedures.
Related Art
Ophthalmic imaging systems, surgical laser systems, and other ophthalmic devices need to be calibrated before being used with an actual patient's eye. For example, the imaging quality of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system should be verified so that an OCT image depicts anatomical structures of the actual patient's eye in an appropriate manner. Demonstrations of the ophthalmic device, such as for training or advertising purposes, can also present circumstances when a human eye may not be available for use. For example, it may be desirable to demonstrate the incisions that can be made by a surgical laser system without using an actual patient.
Conventionally, different types of devices can be used to simulate ophthalmic procedures for calibration and/or demonstration purposes, including silicone eye phantoms and silicone gel targets. The silicone eye phantoms include multiple layers of silicone with varying thickness to simulate different portions of the human eye. The silicone layers can also include suspended nanopowder particles because silicone by itself does not scatter light in the same way that anatomy within the human eye does. While such silicone eye phantoms can be used to observe how light from the ophthalmic device is scattered, adjustment of system parameters based on this data is hindered because the nanopowder can clump within each layer or form a scattering gradient between the layers of the phantom. As a result, the light from the ophthalmic device can be scattered in a manner that does not realistically simulate the scattering of light in the human eye.
The silicone gel targets can have a fixed refractive index and can be used to calibrate the depth of anatomy in OCT imaging and/or surgical laser system demonstrations. The silicone gel targets do not have multiple layers, as the human eye does. Any mismatches in curvature of the anterior surface of the silicone gel target can affect the calibration of imaging depth and/or demonstration of cutting depth. Additionally, the silicone gel target can compress when the ophthalmic device contacts it. As a result, different depths can be measured when the silicone gel target is removed for analysis, limiting the utility of imaging depth calibration and/or cutting depth demonstration.
Ophthalmic device demonstrations that involve imaging and surgical procedures conventionally require both a silicone eye phantom and a silicone gel target. The silicone eye phantom can be used to demonstrate the imaging aspects of the procedure, while the silicone gel target can be used to demonstrate the incisions made by the surgical laser system. Switching the silicone eye phantom and the silicone gel target leads to inefficiencies. It also results in an unrealistic demonstration because the silicone gel target does not have varying anatomical structures and because silicone behaves differently when incised compared to human anatomy. Further, while some eye phantoms simulate aspects of the posterior segment of the eye, they do not simulate aspects of the anterior segment that can factor in the performance of ophthalmic devices.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved devices, systems, and methods that improve the ability to calibrate ophthalmic devices and/or demonstrate ophthalmic procedures on the anterior segment of the eye by addressing one or more of the needs discussed above.